Lamp-signal apparatus for automobiles.



J. T. WRIGHT. LAMP SIGNAL APPARATUS FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION TILED 0GT.17, 1912, '1 5124,68L Patented Jan. 12, 1915. P 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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J. T. WRIGHT. LAMP SIGNAL APPARATUS FOR AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION FILED 0GT.17,1912.

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'IIII IIII! V II V W 53 51 I i Patented Jan. 12, 1915. 7

amen.

JAMES T. WRIGHT, OF METUCHEN,'NE\U JERSEY.

LAMP-SIGNAL APPARATUS FOR AUTOMOBILES.

To all auhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES T. l/Vmeirr,

, of Metuchen, Middlesex county, New Jer- Many accidents occur in motoring from thefact that a driver will sometimes slow down and stop, or turn a corner unexpectedly, and a driver immediately behind will not have time to check his car, and so a collision occurs.

The object of my invention is to arrange a signal lamp on the rear of the car, and preferably near the right hand corner, which will work either by day or night, and

which when flashed will indicate to the car behind that the driveris about to slow down for the purpose ofturning a corner or otherwise. To adapt the lamp for day and night use, I preferably use different colored lenses over the lamp, the normal lens showing White, for instance, and the lens beneath being green, or of a contrasting color, so that when the lamp is flashed the green will show through the white to signal the car behind.

Another object of my invention is to make the apparatus of extreme simplicity, so that it will not materially add to the cost of a car, further to make the working apparatus substantially dust-proof so that it will be reliable, and finally to connect the working apparatus with the foot brake lever, or some analogous part, so that it can be operated without inconvenience by the driver.

' Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which simllar reference characters indicate correspond ng parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the can: Fig. 3 is a broken inverted plan view showing my improvements in detail as applied to a car. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a slight modification in which the working lever is connected to the clutch rod instead of to the foot brake lever. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of the circuit closing part of the appa- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 12, 1915.

Application filed October 17, 1912. Serial No. 726,403.

ratus, and Figs. 6 and 7 are details of the contact plate which closes the circuit.

The principal object of my invention is to have the apparatt; so that it can be conveniently applied to any ordinary car. To this end I attach the working apparatus to the under frame 10 ofthe car, and preferably employ a cup shaped casing 11 which has a tongue or boss 12 on one side which can be screwed to the frame 10 and which has a top 13 which can be screwed upon the stud 13'" in the cup or casing 11, as shown best in Fig. 5, thus making the circuit closing part of the apparatus substantially dust-proof. Spaced apart within the casing 11 are spring contacts l i which are secured to the casing, being suitably insulated as usual in such cases, and these are included in an electric circuit represented by the wire a, which includes a. battery A, or other source of electric supply, and also includes the signal lamp 15, which as previously stated, is located at the rearof the vehicle, and preferably near the right hand corner, and I have shown the lamp provided with outer and inner lenses 16 and 17, the outer one being preferably white, and the inner one of a contrasting color, say green. When the lamp is nnlighted, therefore, the whlte lens only will appear, but when the lamp is:

flashedfthe colored lens will show through and warn the car behind.

The circuit is closed through the contacts 14 and the, lamp 15 by means of the bent end 18 of. the lever 19, which is fulcrumed in the casing 11, and extends outwardly through the slot 20 thereof as shown in the drawings. The bent end 18 of the lever is the contact plate 22 thereon, and this, when the lever 19 is tilted, touches the two spring contacts 14 and. clcses the circuit above referred to, the circuit being from the battery A, through the wire a, the contacts 1-1, the contact plate the lamp 15, back to the battery. Obviously the contact plate for closing the circuit can be of any usual'or preferred type, without afiecting the principle of the invention. The bent end 18 of provided with insulation Q1 which insulates the lever 19 is normally held in the posi tion shown in Fig. 3, by the spring 23.

The outer-part of the lever 19 is provided with several holes 24 so that an adjustable connection can be made with the rod 25 which extends forward to the brake equal-- a crank 28 on the cross shaft 29 suitably -journaled beneath the ear, and a rod 31 extends forward from the crank on the shaft 29, and connects with a foot brake lever 32. Thus when the foot brake lever is moved forward in the act of slowing down the car, that is, applying the brake, the lever 19 is tilted, and the circuit closed through the signal lamp as above described. The advantage of this arrangement is that the driver usually has his foot on the brake lever, and the connection with the lever 19 can be made so that the circuit will be closed even before the brakes are actually applied, so that the driver in the car behind .has ample notiee'that the can in front is about to slow down.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a slight modifica- In the draw tion, in which the lever 19 is connected directly to the clutch rod 83 which connects with the lever in front as usual. I have not shown this arrangement in detail, be cause it is common to all machines, and it will he understood that the lever 19 can be moved by any suitable means within the reach of the driver, without affecting invention, although I prefer the arrangement shown in Fig. 3.

I claim A means for controlling circuits, comprising a switch casing, contacts therein, a post in the casing, a cover for the casing held by the post, a switch lever having a hook at one end, means for pivoting the lever in the casing whereby it may contact with the post for-limiting its movement, said hooked end being adapted to bridge the space between the contacts when the lever is operated, means for holding the switch lever normally out of engagement with on'e of the contacts, means for operating the switch moving it into engagement with the contact.

WVitnesses WARREN 'B. I'IUTGHIN son, ARTHUR G. DANNELL.

lever for,

JAMES T. wnien'r.

the 

